I am a 60-ish married engineer that has dealt with moderate eczema my entire life, primarily through the use of topical steroids. In early 2012 things started going wrong, and this blog is a personal diary of my journey through Topical Steroid Withdrawal, also known as Red Skin Syndrome, Topical Steroid Addiction, or Steroid Induced Eczema. I have been completely free from all steroids since July 9, 2013. Please see www.itsan.org for more info and feel free to post here!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Well, it's been a rough few weeks. I'm not sure if I am feeling a little better, or I am getting used to the state I am in. I am managing to work so I will hopefully not need to take any medical leave.

I am freezing, so the blazing hot weather has been helpful. I walk out of work, the heat hits me and I feel better. When I get home it's into the tub. I'm in a sleep/eat/tub mode and I am wishing time away.

Monday, August 10, 2015

On September 23, 2013, 10 weeks into TSW, I returned to work
after a 5 week medical leave.Today, 2 fucking
years into this and I am looking into taking medical leave again.Every single symptom has returned, some
better, some worse than ever before.

Class, let’s
review the classic TSW symptoms:

Rashes spreading and
developing in new areas of the body.My rashes have rashes.And they
are everywhere.

Intense itching,
burning, stinging. The itching remains the worst part and is out of controlAnd the stinging, which has
never been an issue, has now joined in.If I hop in the shower for relief (hot water helps calm the itch) I do
not know if it will be soothing warmth or a million pins. I think the scratching causes a certain type of rash that is susceptible to the stinging.

Visible and
measurable flaking of skin – appears to be ‘snowing’.I’m Pig Pen personified.I can’t tell the difference between the comma
and period keys unless I blow off my keyboard.

Oozing exudate.Maybe worse than ever.It’s disgusting and stinks.

Skin cycling between
oozing, swelling, burning, and flaking.These are not serial, but rather,
parallel processes, which means that I can be enjoying all four at the same
time!

Thermoregulation
altered (feeling too cold or too hot).It's so weird to feel hot and cold at the same time. My body is radiating heat again, even when I feel cold. My
wife informs me that this is what menopause is like.I’ll never know for sure, but ladies, you
have my sympathy.

Nerve pain, sometimes
described as “sparklers” or “zingers”.Damn
it, I really thought these were gone.

Enlarged lymph nodes.Woohoo!I have no swollen lymph nodes!

Edema.A couple weeks ago, I gained 15 pounds in
a couple days with the legs and feet swelling up.This has thankfully eased and I am back down
to my svelt “just over a couple hundred” working weight.

Eye dryness and
irritation.This came back worse
than ever but has eased as well.

Hair loss: (head
and/or body). Yup. My hair has
really thinned out again.I haven’t had
a haircut in months and I’m afraid to get one as I might not be able to do the
Trump combover.

Insomnia and altered
body clock.I really don’t want to
go back on Ambien and hopefully the insomnia will turnaround soon.We dumped cable TV in our house, but I have
discovered “Buzzr” TV on over the air TV. They play classic game shows such as “What’s
My Line”, “To Tell the Truth”, and “I’ve Got a Secret”.Superb dozable television.

Emotional
fluctuations, depression, fatigue, anxiety. I am beyond sick of this
crap, but I am not depressed in the clinical sense. It’s hard to think about going through this
for what may be years longer, but I remain hopeful that this will be but a
memory before I know it. And in the
global scale of suffering, what I have is a mere mosquito bite. Unlike Robin’s MD there is a positive end in
sight. Speaking of Robin, she has been
unwavering in her support and love and I appreciate her more every day!

"Addiction to (Topical) Steroids is a serious problem which reaches tragic proportions in some cases. It is more common than realized, sly and seductive and will be prevented only when the physician becomes as impressed with the capacity of the steroids to do harm as they are with their power to suppress, not cure, virtually any inflammatory disorder." - Dr. Albert M. Kligman M.D. Ph.D. and Dr. Peter J. Frosch M.D., International Society of Topical Dermatology Journal, 1979